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Gun Turret
A Gun Turret, or turret is a device found on all aircraft in Bomber Crew and forms a crew member station on the Lancaster bomber. Turrets allow the occupants of an aircraft to fire at other aircraft in order to damage them and shoot them down. Turrets require ammunition for proper use; in the Lancaster, any crew member can obtain ammunition for all turrets at the ammunition box in the center of the aircraft. Turrets also require the hydraulics system to be operational in order for crew members to rotate the turret and fire. The Lancaster can have three or four turrets: one on the nose of the plane, one on top (Dorsal), one on the tail, and one on the belly (Ventral). At the start of the game, the first bomber will have no ventral turret and must be purchased later. The same turret can be removed after installation if the player desires, but none of the other turrets can be removed. It is preferred that the player assigns gunners to the turrets, and both gunners, along with the Bombardier, will be found already inside a turret at the start of every mission. Operation In order for a turret to function, a crew member must be stationed at it with sufficient ammunition and functional hydraulics. The player does not need to physically aim a turret; the crew member using the turret will aim and fire at enemy aircraft that have been tagged. When a turret is running low on ammo, an icon with three bullets will appear. When the turret is completely out of ammunition, the icon turns red. Without ammo, a crew member inside a turret will spin around to aim at nearby enemies but will be unable to fire bullets. To replenish ammo, any crew member can go to the ammo box in the center of the aircraft to retrieve three clips of bullets. Any given turret will not hold more than three extra clips of ammo, but will keep the same amount of bullets remaining in the magazine and number of extra clips after the current gunner leaves the turret. When the hydraulics system fails, all turrets will lock up on their aim direction at the moment of failure, rendering them useless. They will still fire if enemy fighters happen to fly in front of them, but this only happens rarely. Turrets provide little protection against incoming fire. If a gunner is low on health, they should be sent to the medical bed immediately or be healed by a Crew member, else they risk death. Ammo Types Main article: Gunner ammunition types Turrets can use four types of ammunition: * Normal Ammo, which is the default ammunition used and has no special attributes. * Incendiary Ammo, which has a chance of igniting places on the aircraft it hits; effective against all targets. * A.P. Ammo, or Armor-Piercing Ammo, which offers higher damage against heftier/well-armored aircraft; useful against fighter aces and jet fighters. * H.E. Ammo, or High-Explosive Ammo, which offers explosive damage upon hitting an aircraft; effective against groups of aircraft. It should be noted that only Normal Ammo uses the ammunition loaded into a turret. Incendiary, A.P., and H.E. rounds do not consume ammo. Gun Types Turrets come in five varieties: * .303 caliber, dual-barrel * .303 caliber, quad-barrel * .50 caliber, dual-barrel * .50 caliber, quad-barrel * 20mm, dual-barrel Between the .303 caliber and .50 caliber turrets, the former do less damage, but they have more bullets per clip. In contrast, .50 caliber turrets do more damage at the expense of smaller clips. Weight is not a significant factor, as they are generally the same (usually they are the same) between both calibers for similar versions (e.g. A .303x2 Mk. II turret and a .50x2 Mk. II turret both have a weight of 250). Firing speed is also not a significant factor; it is not known whether there is a firing speed difference, but the .303 caliber turrets may sound as if they fire slightly faster. In contrast, the 20mm cannon turrets (from the Secret Weapons DLC) are generally slightly heavier than the other two turrets and fire noticeably slower than the .303 and .50 caliber turrets, but still fire at a decent rate. However, the 20mm turrets deal significantly higher damage, being beat slightly only by .303 caliber quad-barrel turrets of the same mark (The .303x2 Mk. III deals 187 damage per second, the 20mm Mk. III deals 336, and the .303x4 Mk. III deals 373) . As of the December 15, 2017 update, all four turrets have ammo feed upgrades available. These provide the gunner with infinite ammo, removing the need for the gunner or another crew member to go to the ammo box to restock a given turret periodically. It should be noted that the ammo feeds provide infinite magazines and not one single infinitely large clip, so the gunner will still have to stop briefly to reload. Strategy * It is recommended that the player either makes the radio operator a flight engineer as a secondary position when given the option (as the hydraulics system is right behind the radio operator; in the event of hydraulics failure, the radio operator can quickly get out of his/her seat and begin repairing the system) or upgrade the hydraulics as soon as possible to increase reliability. * It is also recommended that the current gunner inside the turret be the crew member assigned to retrieve more ammo, as the crew member will automatically return to the turret on his/her own without further user input after retrieving ammo. A crew member not originally in a turret that is told to obtain ammo will, instead, stand at the ammo box for further instructions from the player. * If weight is not a significant concern for the player, it may be beneficial to invest in .50 caliber turrets for the central turrets (the Dorsal and Ventral turrets) and a .50 caliber turret with an ammo feed in the rear, the reasoning being that the central turrets are right next to the ammo box, making trips for more ammo short, while the ammo feed will eliminate the trip for the rear gunner entirely. The nose turret should stay as a .303 caliber turret (or better yet, have an ammo feed) if crew member speed is a concern as a given crew member would be required to travel a net total of roughly the entire length of the plane to obtain more ammo if he/she runs out. * The Dorsal turret, having the largest traverse (the entire hemisphere above the aircraft) will be the one that fires the most frequently, especially at Low and Mid altitudes. The second is the Ventral turret, when flying at Mid and High and meeting fighters that attack from below. The most skilled gunners should man these turrets, and they should be the first to receive upgrades.